China-Japan Ministers Hold ‘Severe’ Talks as Spat Damages Trade

The foreign ministers of China and Japan held “severe” talks in New York in an attempt to ease rising tensions over a territorial dispute that is hurting trade between Asia’s two biggest economies.

China’s Yang Jiechi met with Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. Yang said China “will not tolerate” Japan’s claims to islands in the East China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Gemba described the atmosphere as “severe” at the meeting in which he emphasized Japan’s “maximum restraint” over the dispute, Kyodo News reported.